The Yadkin calmly
fascinates."
--The Rev. Douglas L. Rights, 'A Voyage Down the
Yadkin-Great Peedee River,' 1928.
By Andy Matthews
Editor
www.yadkinvalleynews.com
Amatthews2007@yahoo.com
More than three quarters of a century ago, a writer
traveled down the Yadkin River from North Wilkesboro to Georgetown, S.C.
where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The purpose of the trip was
to chronicle life along the Yadkin, leaving behind a journal that told
about the river's abundant natural resources, flourishing wildlife, its
newly industrialized cities, and a host of characters that populated the
river basin.
In 1982, a second group of environmentalists decided to
duplicate Wrights' trip, updating readers of The Winston-Salem Journal about
the changes along the Yadkin, describing in vivid detail the
environmental threats posed by new development and reminding those who
depend upon the river that it is an economic lifeline and way of life.
"Individuals can only
do so much to protect the river; an individual, for example, has little
power to stop an industry from dumping toxic wastes into it," Floyd
Rogers, a reporter for The Winston-Salem
Journal said in his 1982 book, 'Yadkin
Passage.' "But an individual can put his beer can in a trash bin, not in
the river."
Now, as residential, industrial and commercial
development continue to encroach upon the Yadkin River and its
tributaries, a new coalition of environmentalists are poised to paddle
their way down the Yadkin. Their mission is the same — to observe the
abundant wildlife, take in the majestic scenery, camp along the
riverbanks, and determine the immediate and long-term threats to the
river's water quality.
“This is part documentary and part activist in its
efforts,” said Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper. “It is designed to
capture people’s interest and raise awareness about the river among
people in North Carolina who depend on it for drinking water – including
more than 200,000 people in Winston-Salem alone."
Like those before him,
Naujoks and members of the Yadkin Riverkeeper association, will begin
their journey at the headwaters of the Yadkin in Blowing Rock. From
there, they will travel roughly 185 miles and 25 days, from the rolling
hills of Northwest North Carolina, past the populous Piedmont Triad, to
Lake Tillery near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. There will
be numerous stops along the way, giving volunteers and observers a
chance to see how the Yadkin unfolds from a relatively small stream in
the Blue Ridge Mountains to a large waterway by the time it becomes part
of the Yadkin Pee Dee River basin.
Naujoks said he hopes
the trip will educate the estimated 1.6 million people who live along
the river basin how important it is to preserve a vital natural resource
like the Yadkin, which is the state's second largest river, including
5,862 stream miles, 22,988 lake acres, spanning 21 counties and 93
municipalities, and totaling about 7,221 square miles.
Naujoks has been an
outspoken critic of plans for Fibrowatt's LLC's proposed power plant,
which would be built in southwestern Surry County, near Elkin along the
Yadkin. Naujoks worries that pollutants from the plant will damage the
river's water quality. Naujoks has also lobbied against Alcoa's proposal
to receive another 50-year federal license for a hydroelectric project,
which he says has already led to multiple contaminations in the water
and land around the company's dams.
In addition to
environmental education, the 'Tour de Yadkin' will feature festivities
along the way, including an April 6 kickoff date in Blowing Rock and
other events at the Kerr Scott Reservoir, Carolina Heritage Vineyard and
Winery and Crater Park, both in Elkin. Participants can also 'purchase a
mile' of the Yadkin River, saying they sponsored that part of the
journey. The trip concludes May 1 with a family picnic at Lake Tillery.
For more information on
the trip, go to http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org/riverkeeper.